London and southern England

 

 London, England. 

We stayed in a Kings College London residence in West Hampstead and found it comfortable with easy access to downtown, but nothin’ fancy!!  We packed a lot into a few days, but feel, even more than we did with any other city, that we need to go back.  We saw a lot, just not enough!!  The British Museum was a wonder and terrific for the kids (free too!!).  We loved the Egyptian mummies especially.  Our ramblings took us to Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, Covent Gardens, Picadilly, Westminster and the Parliament Buildings, Big Ben and the London Eye.  We also toured the Tower of London (any idea how many suits of army Henry VIII had?? They got bigger and bigger with the passage of time!)   We “shopped” but only really bought some Olympic 2012 gear.  Also picked up a Wills and Katie mug that I am quite proud of!  We  (particularly Elizabeth!) loved Marks and Spencers (where we bought some things) and Fortnum and Mason (where we only bought tea).  Lets face it: London is not cheap!

Despite not seeing it all we dragged ourselves away to the south of England where two of my cousins live.  Lorraine is in Crawley Downs and Suzanne is in Walberton (both in Sussex).  After one night with Lorraine (she was leaving the next day for Canada!) we landed in on Suzanne and spent a delightful three days with her and her partner, Mike.  We visited Lingfield, the village where my mother and her parents had moved to when she was a teenager and where she later married my father.  The Church of St. Peter and St. Paul dates back to the 1200’s.  Imagine being married in front of the tombs of medieval knights and their ladies!! We had tea at a little tea shop in the village and visited the pond with its ancient tree and mini prison (called “the cage”).  I remembered these from when I had gone to England with my family almost 40 years ago. Our travels in the south of England also took us to Portsmouth where we were able to tour Nelson’s ship, the Victory.  We stood on the spot where Nelson was shot and learned about the historic and decisive battle of Trafalgar with Napoleon’s fleet.  We also went to Arundel Castle. For those of you who saw the movie “The Young Victoria”, it was partly filmed at Arundel.  It is still privately owned by the Earl of Arundel/Duke of Norfolk and his wife and since the family lives there, is not completely open to the public.  Much of it can be toured however and is wonderful. We also made a trip to the beach where more swimming took place. We followed that up with some traditional English fish and chips!  Very good, and very bad for you!  Finally, we made an excursion to Chichester - a very pretty town with a wonderful cathedral. 

Two entertainments that I mustn’t forget to mention.  In London we went to the musical “Betty Blue Eyes” – featuring a pig in postwar (and ration-era) Britain; and in Portsmouth we saw the final installment of Harry Potter.  Great excitement for us all!

Finally, back to Heathrow Airport for the trip back sure to Nova Scotia, via Toronto and the cottage. A mixture of excitement and apprehension for us all, as our amazing adventure came to an end but our arrival home beckoned. We have had an incredible journey and have made memories that we will treasure in the years ahead.